Markets trade flat with positive bias in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks erased their initial losses and were now trading flat with positive bias in morning deals led by gains in Realty and Telecom stocks. Traders took some support as ICRA in its latest report projected India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at 13.0% for first quarter (April-June) of current fiscal year (FY23) a sharp jump from the 4.1% in Q4 FY22. It has also projected the year-on-year (YoY) growth of the gross value added (GVA) at basic prices (at constant 2011-12 prices) in Q1 FY23 at 12.6%, a jump from 3.9% recorded in Q4 FY22.  However, gains remain capped as Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in its latest data showed that investment through participatory notes (P-notes) in the domestic capital market declined to Rs 75,725 crore at the end of July, the lowest level in nearly two years, mainly in the wake of aggressive rate hikes by the US Fed. This also marks the third consecutive monthly decline in investment numbers.

On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red as inflation anxieties crept in ahead of an eagerly awaited U.S. Federal Reserve's annual symposium. Back home, stocks related to pharma industry’s stocks remained in watch as CRISIL said the domestic pharma industry is expected to report moderate revenue growth of 7-9 percent in the current fiscal, due to headwinds in export sales in the regulated markets and a high-base effect in the domestic formulations business.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 59063.95, up by 32.65 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 58760.09 and 59113.66. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.29%, while Small cap index was up by 0.77%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.62%, Telecom up by 0.73%, PSU up by 0.43%, Energy up by 0.42% and Metal up by 0.41%, while TECK down by 0.20%, Consumer Durables down by 0.16%, IT down by 0.11% and Auto down by 0.03% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 2.23%, NTPC up by 1.33%, Power Grid Corp up by 0.66%, ICICI Bank up by 0.61% and ITC up by 0.46%. On the flip side, TCS down by 0.68%, Asian Paints down by 0.57%, Nestle down by 0.50%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.50% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.49% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over the country’s exports growth, Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam has said that India's merchandise exports are likely to be around $470-480 billion in the current fiscal (FY23) against $420 billion in 2021-22. He added that the services sector is likely to contribute another 280 billion. He noted that ‘we are pretty much on track and added the exact target for the fiscal may be announced later’. India's overall exports (merchandise and services) touched an all-time high of $669.65 billion in April-March 2021-22, jumping by 34.50 per cent over the same period last year.

On trade deficit, the secretary said it is likely to moderate in the coming months because of softening of prices of oil and other commodities in the global market. He said the trade deficit, which crossed $100 billion in the first four months of the current fiscal, is not going to cross a ‘discomfort level’. The merchandise trade deficit in July 2022 was $31.02 billion, taking the gap between imports and exports to $100.01 billion in April-July 2022-23.

Subrahmanyam further said there is a huge opportunity for India as many western countries are planning to shift their operations from China. He said the shift from China is huge, and added that many companies are looking to shift their manufacturing away from China and move to India.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17592.25, up by 14.75 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 17499.25 and 17605.40. There were 21 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 2.54%, Indusind Bank up by 2.21%, Apollo Hospital Ent. up by 1.75%, NTPC up by 1.07% and Coal India up by 0.81%. On the flip side, Divi's Lab down by 1.42%, TCS down by 0.69%, Tata Consumer Product down by 0.59%, Nestle down by 0.55% and Asian Paints down by 0.52% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Hang Seng decreased 260.23 points or 1.33% to 19,243.02, Nikkei 225 slipped 112.48 points or 0.4% to 28,340.27, Shanghai Composite declined 45.11 points or 1.38% to 3,231.11 and Taiwan Weighted dropped 35.46 points or 0.23% to 15,060.43.

On the global front, Straits Times trembled 1.45 points or 0.04% to 3,244.76, Jakarta Composite soared 2.55 points or 0.04% to 7,165.82 and KOSPI rose 9.24 points or 0.38% to 2,444.58.